40,000 prostitutes expected for 2005 World Cup

9 June 2005, BERLIN - At least 40,000 prostitutes are expected to flock to Germany for next year's Football World Cup, a report said on Thursday.

9 June 2005

BERLIN - At least 40,000 prostitutes are expected to flock to Germany for next year's Football World Cup, a report said on Thursday.

"The World Cup naturally offers fantastic chances to earn money - business will be good," said Katharina Cetin of Berlin's prostitution lobby group Hydra.

According to the Berliner Kurier paper, up to 40,000 prostitutes will set up shop in Germany during the World Cup which begins 9 June and lasts about a month.

Cities such as Cologne and Dortmund are planning special wooden street cabins - dubbed 'Bird Houses' - in which prostitutes can receive customers so that they do not conduct business in public places, the paper said.

Prostitution is legal in Germany for individuals but organised prostitution rings are banned.

Public health officials say they plan to distribute over 100,000 condoms during the World Cup to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.